President Trump on Monday filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times and four of its reporters, claiming the paper is a "full-throated mouthpiece of the Democrat Party."
Why it matters: Trump frequently sounds off on the Times' coverage of his administration, campaigns, business dealings and legal cases. The suit is an escalation of his long-running feud with the news organization.
- "The 'Times' has engaged in a decades long method of lying about your Favorite President (ME!), my family, business, the America First Movement, MAGA, and our Nation as a whole," Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday.
The other side: A spokesperson for the Times said in a statement provided to Axios that the lawsuit has "no merit."
- "It lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting," the statement read. "The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics."
Driving the news: The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, points to three articles and "a malicious, defamatory, and disparaging book." It also points to the editorial board's endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
- The suit alleges the book and articles were crafted "with actual malice, calculated to inflict maximum damage upon President Trump, and all published during the height of a Presidential Election."
- Trump's lawsuits claims the Times was striving to damage his business reputation, sabotage his candidacy, and prejudice judges and juries in the legal cases against him in the lead-up to the 2024 election.
- After he won the election, the suit alleges, the Times still sought to "subject him to humiliation and ridicule."
State of play: The Times isn't the only news organization that has faced litigation from the president.
- He's also suing the Wall Street Journal over its reporting about his purported contribution to Jeffrey Epstein's birthday book.
- He sued the Des Moines Register over what his legal team called "election interference" after the newspaper published a poll showing Harris was on track to win the state in the 2024 election.
- Before taking office, he sued ABC and CBS, both of which agreed to multimillion-dollar settlements.
Go deeper: Trump ramps up legal threats against news outlets
Editor's note: This story was updated with a statement from a Times spokesperson.
